Tom Squared

As I get older, I'm increasingly sure that my wife Erin thinks this saying about me a lot.  As soon as I get home I must "check my common sense at the door." Just tonight we are doing laundry and I went up to get a new basket.  I picked up a weird one, with whites and a dark sweater and shirt on top.  But I picked it up and away I went, Erin was there and could have said something anyway.  Get them in the wash and away we go. Not 10 minutes later Erin comes out and asks whether I took the basket of whites down. . . that were clean. It gets worse. . . I was the one who switched the whites and brought them upstairs in the first place. Truthfully, this would not be the first time something like that happened.  Just a few days ago, while going to bed, Erin mentioned not doing a parents night out for Rachel since it's too late for her.  First thing in the morning Rachel talks about it being pajama day at school, and I tell her she can go. I...

I came across this Best Practices in Internet Ministry post today about volunteers creating and maintaining a church Web site.  The topic itself wasn't so interesting as the idea that staff should be creating and maintaining the church Web site. While I definitely understand and agree with some of the comments made of volunteers, I've found that the same is often true about staff (either in church or the workplace).  Not good. Too often people think more highly of themselves and their skills than they merit. So far it has been good. Although getting them to keep their pages up to date has been tough. They each have their own ideas about what they think is cool and want to help but really are way behind the times. This post though shows something I've seen happening in a lot of larger, and even some smaller, churches.  They are looking to staff because they don't feel that volunteers are reliable enough. This actually comes in different statements l...

I stumbled across this interesting bit of information about Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura from the original Star Trek series). At the end of Star Trek 's first season, Nichelle was thinking seriously of leaving the show, but a chance and moving meeting with Martin Luther King changed her mind. He told her she couldn't give up...she was a vital role model for young black women in America. - from StarTrek.com There have been more times than I can count that I've considered just dropping something and going on to something more interesting, or something which will have more of an impact for people.  When Nichelle was thinking of leaving, it was because the fans didn't like her character very much.  She didn't have the public voting for her, and wasn't thinking she was making much of a difference.  Then one voice changed everything, a life she didn't even think she impacted. I wonder what I've given up on that really made a difference, even...

When going potty in the middle of the night Rachel asked Erin: Mommy, when I flushed my panties and daddies clothes down the toilet . . . that was a dream, right? Man, I hope so! And I always wondered what kids dreamed about. Peace, +Tom

Easy: Telling some adult that you can discipline your child, and that they should not push (however gently) the back of their head to get their attention. Hard: When that adult is your father-in-law. Peace, +Tom